That night, they were awoken by shrieks. Old Ned had abducted the landlord’s daughter and was rolling her off in a barrel! The three gave chase into the misty woods by moonlight. But they lost the cackling hobgoblin, and found the barrel abandoned in a clearing with a hollow tree.

They wandered into another clearing where they met a strange beggar and were attacked by Harpies. Zagro’s spear put an end to them though. In the next clearing they found a hut with an old crone inside. Aldo questioned her while Zagro and Sir Grimblebottom hung back. She seemed anxious about her husband returning, a man who didn’t like strangers. Sure enough, a crazy wild man came charging into the clearing, wielding a huge axe. Zagro shot an arrow at him and Sir Grimblebottom fought him. He was soon overwhelmed, and the three confiscated his axe and tied him to a tree. Hidden in the woodshed of his house were several dead bodies — the axeman’s victims. The three looted the hut and moved on.

The next clearing had a small lake with a boat moored on the shore. The three saw a ghostly maiden in the lake, holding a sword. Aldo climbed into the boat and was carried into the centre of the pool (Zagro and Sir Grimblebottom hung back, stupefied). The lady transformed into a skeletal ghost, who asked for vengeance against a certain mad lord from thereabouts. When Aldo agreed a ghostly sword appeared point-down over his head — as a surety of his promise. The ghost told Aldo about a magical spear and gauntlet buried in one of the nearby hummocks. Aldo retrieved the glowing spear and they continued. They found a vine-covered hut. Aldo tried to set it on fire and it jumped up on huge chicken legs and strode away into the forest!

Day dawned, and the forest thinned. They reached a road where a mysterious black carriage awaited them. However Zagro and Grimblebottom were more in favour of returning to the wood to seek the elusive Old Ned. Back among the trees, they stumbled across an ancient overgrown ruin, and descended steps into an underground temple to a War God. Zagro found traps and secret passages, fought an ancient mummy and uncovered six chests of treasure. Old Ned or no, they were wealthier than they had been the previous day.